When Sharon Stein Merkin attended a Modern Orthodox religious day school in Los Angeles, she didn't learn Mishna or Gemara, the Oral law, because her school, like most in the 1980s and '90s, didn't teach women Talmud.

"It is not in our hands to explain the prosperity of the wicked or even the sufferings of the righteous." So said Rabbi Yannai in the Mishna some 2,000 years ago. The Talmud (Kiddushin 39b) insists "there is no reward for mitzvot in this world." We have had a long time to read and...

The passing of Nathan Pollak on Oct. 26 sent shock waves throughout the Jewish community. Nathan was a dynamic worker for many Jewish causes, and his sudden demise left an enormous spiritual and physical vacuum.

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